Retro: Philadelphia - Sunday, July 4, 1976 (Bicentennial Day)

[RandTV]

3 KYW (NBC)
6:00 Great American Birthday Celebration
7:00 Pattern for Living
7:30 You in College
8:00 The Glorious Fourth
NOON Meet the Press - Special one-hour Bicentennial edition; Guests: Six participants of the Governors' Conference in Philadelphia
1:00 The Glorious Fourth (continued)
6:00 Eyewitness News
6:30 NBC Nightly News - John Hart
7:00 Happy Birthday, America - Hosts: Paul Anka and family; Guests: Sandy Duncan, Arte Johnson, Evel Knievel, Meredith Wilson; from the Los Angeles Coliseum
8:30 Texaco Presents Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular - Guests: Sammy Davis Jr., Debbie Reynolds, Donny & Marie Osmond, The Captain & Tenille
10:00 NBC News Special: "The Best of the Fourth" - John Chancellor, David Brinkley
11:00 Eyewitness News
11:30 Movie: "The Naked Prey" (1966) - Cornel Wilde, Ken Gampu
1:00 Interaction

6 WPVI (ABC)
6:00 The Christophers
6:30 This Is the Life
7:00 Directions
7:30 Sunday Session
8:00 Dialogue
8:30 The Mass
9:00 Puerto Rican Panorama
9:30 These Are the Days
10:00 Make a Wish - Tom Chapin
10:25 Schoolhouse Rock!
10:30 The Great American Birthday Party - Harry Reasoner
11:30 Larry Ferrari
NOON Movie: "High Noon" (1952) - Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado, Lon Chaney Jr.
2:30 Issues and Answers - Guest: HRH Prince Phillip, from Buckingham Palace
3:00 People to People
4:00 Movie: "Rio Grande" (1950) - John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara
6:00 Action News
6:30 Visions of a New Day
7:00 The American Idea: The Glory Road West - Narrators: Chad Everett, Henry Fonda, Buffy Sainte-Marie
8:00 ABC Sunday Night Movie: "The New Land" (Swedish title: Nybyggarna) (1972 in Sweden, 1973 in US) - Max von Sydow, Liv Ullman (in Swedish)
10:00 Great American Birthday Party Review - Harry Reasoner
11:00 Action News
11:30 Movie: "Inside Daisy Clover" (1966) - Natalie Wood, Chistopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall, Ruth Gordon

10 WCAU (CBS)
6:00 Lamp Unto My Feet
6:30 Look Up and Live
7:00 Camera Three
7:30 Harlem Globetrotters (cartoon)
8:00 In Celebration of US (to 6:00 PM)
6:00 Eye On... "1776 and All That" (the 'Eye' in the title refers to WCAU's ownership by CBS)
6:30 CBS Evening News - Bob Schieffer
7:00 In Celebration of US (continued)
8:57 Bicentennial Minute (CBS series of short vignettes of American History on the happenings of 200 years to the broadcast date, starting July 4, 1974 and ending December 31, 1976. First Lady Betty Ford presented that night's Bicentennial Minute. The previous day was by Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller, and President Gerald Ford himself hosted the final episode.)
9:00 In Celebration of US (continued)
11:00 TV 10 News
11:30 In Celebration of US (continued)
MIDNIGHT "Friendly Persuasion" (1956) - Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins

12 WHYY (PBS) Wilmington, DE
9:30 Mister Rogers
10:00 Electric Company
10:30 Sesame Street
11:30 Mister Rogers
NOON Black Perspective on the News - Guest: Watergate figure John Dean
12:30 Book Beat - "(John) Steinbeck: A Life in Letters" by his widow Elaine Steinbeck
1:00 Movie: "The Last Holiday" (1950) - Alec Guiness, Kay Walsh, Bernard Lee
2:30 Speak Freely
3:30 America, America, America - performed by the Mormon Youth Chorus and Orchestra
5:00 Goodbye, America - Re-enactment on the British Parliament's May 1776 "war or peace" debate with American colonists.
6:30 World Press
7:00 Firing Line
8:00 Evening at Pops - Bicentennial themed salute to America; also featuring Edward Villella of the New York City ballet
9:00 Masterpiece Theatre: "Notorious Woman" (Part 5 of 7)
10:00 The Olympiad: "The Marathon"


17 WPHL
7:00 Delaware Valley Forum
7:30 James R. Rector Mirable Crusade
8:00 Day of Discovery
8:30 Oral Roberts
9:00 Hour of Power - Robert Schuller
10:00 Leroy Jenkins
10:30 Rex Humbard
11:30 Lone Ranger
NOON Twelve O'Clock High
1:00 Phillies Baseball Doubleheader: at Pittsurgh Pirates
6:00 Love, American Style
7:00 Tarzan
8:00 Movie: "Stars and Stripes Forever" (1952) - Clifton Webb (as John Philip Sousa), Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, Ruth Hussey
10:00 Billy Graham Crusade: "Festival of Faith", from Williamsburg, VA
11:00 Garner Ted Armstrong
11:30 The Fugitive
12:30 Overseas Mission

29 WTAF
8:30 Reverend Al
9:00 Max B. Nimble
9:30 Hot Fudge Show
10:00 Superheroes (Marvel)
10:30 Three Stooges
11:30 Superman
NOON Bowling
1:00 Wrestling
2:00 Dragnet
2:30 Movie: "Jim Thorpe - All-American" (1951) - Burt Lancaster (as Thorpe), Charles Bickford, Phyliss Thaxter
5:00 Lost in Space
6:00 Movie: "The Malta Story" (1953 in UK, 1954 in US) - Alex Guiness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel
8:00 World of Life Today
8:30 The King is Coming
9:00 James Robison Presents
9:30 Jerry Falwell
10:30 It Is Written
11:00 Gospel Singing Jubilee
MIDNIGHT Ministry of Reverend Al

48 WKBS
9:00 Jimmy Swaggart
9:30 Underdog
10:00 Speed Racer
10:30 Flintstones
11:00 Little Rascals
11:30 Movie: "Alexander Hamilton" (1931) - George Arliss (as Hamilton), Doris Kenyon (as Betsey Hamilton)
1:00 Movie: "Courageous Mr. Penn" (original title: "Penn of Pennsylvania) (1941) - Clifford Evans (as William Penn), Deborah Kerr, Dennis Arundell (as King Charles II)
3:00 Movie: "Tennessee Johnson" (1942) - Van Heflin (as Andrew Johnson), Ruth Hussey (as Eliza McCardle Johnson), Lionel Barrymore (as Thaddeus Stevens)
5:00 Movie: "The Adventures of Mark Twain" (1944) - Frederic March (as Twain), Alexis Smith (as wife "Livy"), Donald Crisp, Alan Hale Sr.
7:30 Family Classics: "Tom Sawyer" (animated)
8:00 Movie: "Brigham Young - Frontiersman" (1940) - Dean Jagger (as Young), Linda Darnell, Tyrone Power, Vincent Price (as Joseph Smith)
10:00 Lou Gordon
11:00 On Target

 

[Ccook55]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the Harlem Globetrotters show (7:30 AM, ch. 10) was the live action Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, which with the Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show got relegated to Sunday mornings in their second season.

 

[RandTV]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the Harlem Globetrotters show (7:30 AM, ch. 10) was the live action Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, which with the Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show got relegated to Sunday mornings in their second season.

I think you're right about that. I just Wiki'ed that info.

 

[Ccook55]

The Globetrotters cartoon reappeared on NBC at midseason of the 1977-78 season under the umbrella title Go Go Globetrotters (which repackaged several other shows--The Herculoids, Motormouse & Autocat and The C.B. Bears--in a two-hour block).

 

[RandTV]

The Globetrotters cartoon reappeared on NBC at midseason of the 1977-78 season under the umbrella title Go Go Globetrotters (which repackaged several other shows--The Herculoids, Motormouse & Autocat and The C.B. Bears--in a two-hour block).

I remember the latter two, along with Undercover Elephant, shown on Captain Kangaroo during its final two years (1982-84) in their weekend format.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Will any broadcast network blow out hour after hour of regular programming on July 4th, 2026 to present (mostly live) coverage of events celebrating America's 250th anniversary?

With July 4th, 2026 being on a Saturday, I could see the major broadcast networks only carrying a few hours of coverage and mostly stick to their regular Saturday afternoon sports schedules.

Also, it's my understanding that when bicentennial plans were first made in the early 1970's, Philadelphia was to have hosted a world's fair, while the space program was to have had a doubleheader: The first manned launch of the space shuttle in the morning and the landing of the unmanned Viking 1 probe on Mars that night.

But there would be no world's fair in Philadelphia. The space shuttle quickly fell behind schedule, and in the end, wouldn't fly until April, 1981. Viking 1 was orbiting Mars, but due to relatively minor problems, the landing was delayed by several days.

It turned out that the marquee event that day was an evening concert on the banks of Boston's Charles River, where the Boston Pops performed. I do know CBS carried the final part of the show (with the Pops' performances of "1812 Overture" and "Stars And Stripes Forever", both accompanied by fireworks), making the Boston Pops' July 4th concert the focal point of the nation's celebration, a status that for the most part it has retained.

I happened to watch CBS and saw live the conclusion of that concert, but I don't know if either ABC or NBC also carried it.

 

[genius]

Thank you for sharing!

CBS’ coverage looks extremely over the top in retrospect lol I know if I was in Philly at the time I would have liked WKBS’ airing Speed Racer and Underdog much better.

My mother was not wrong when she predicted that I’d remember the Bicentennial forever. There are many moments that seem magical, even so many years later: the fireworks on the National Mall, the Tall Ships in New York Harbor, and a beautiful Sunday evening neighborhood block party in my neighborhood. But the celebrations were also awash with commerciality. I remember one ad that showed Paul Revere riding through town drinking Coca-Cola out of a bottle and a British redcoat sliding into base after a hit. But the reality was the country was just ready for a big party in the aftermath of Watergate and Vietnam.

I highly doubt the upcoming Semiquincentennial will have the same impact or have much programming devoted to it. Maybe at most a PBS documentary and one or two specials on a streaming service.

 

[Larry]

Will any broadcast network blow out hour after hour of regular programming on July 4th, 2026 to present (mostly live) coverage of events celebrating America's 250th anniversary?

CNN wasn’t around in 1976 to do wall to wall coverage. My guess is one broadcast network (which doesn’t have any major sprig events to televise) will do extensive coverage. There is a national organization and local organization in Philly already working on plans for America 250. Locally in Philly NBC10 ( and before that WPVI) preempt network programming the evening of July 4th every year for a local Welcome America concert and fireworks

 

[TVCOOL]

Have TV listings for Independence Day 1976 from New York City, Boston / Providence as well?

 

[RandTV]

Have TV listings for Independence Day 1976 from New York City, Boston / Providence as well?

Seems appropriate for those markets from that day to be mentioned, as well as Washington, DC.

 

[RandTV]

Governors who appeared on "Meet the Press":

Robert Ray (R-IA)
Michael Dukakis (D-MA)
Wendell Anderson (D-MN)
Milton Shapp (D-PA)
Mills Godwin (R-VA)

 

[ftballfan]

The only major sport that would likely be in season on July 4, 2026 is MLB. I wouldn't be surprised to see at least two MLB games air nationally.

 

[blackgold]

I'm sure that the networks will plan extensive coverage for the 250th. on July 4th., 2026!